McNamara gets nod as new Great Britain assistant coach

Steve McNamara's rapid rise up the coaching ranks continued yesterday as he was appointed to assist Tony Smith with the Great Britain team this year and the England side who will compete in next autumn's World Cup, confirming him as the most likely British successor to Smith whenever the Australian steps down.

It is little more than a year since McNamara, then 34, became the youngest head coach in the Super League when he succeeded Brian Noble at Bradford. But he has already leapfrogged other candidates such as Warrington's Paul Cullen and Salford's Karl Harrison, who have both taken charge of the England development team in recent seasons, and also Huddersfield's Jon Sharp, who was on Noble's Lions staff for the last two Tri-Nations series.

"I've worked with Steve in the past and have watched in admiration at his progress with the Bulls," said Smith, who was briefly a team-mate of McNamara's with the Sydney club St George and gave him his first coaching job as part of the backroom staff at Huddersfield Giants five years ago. "He is one of the most intelligent and talented coaches around and I'm sure he will have much to offer the international set-up."

McNamara won two Great Britain caps as a substitute in 1993 and also played twice for England in the build-up to the 1995 World Cup only to be omitted from Phil Larder's final squad. "I know what an honour it is to pull on the jersey," he said. "To be involved in the build-up to the World Cup will be brilliant."

He and Smith will maintain their club roles - in which they will clash on Sunday night when Bradford play Leeds in the last of six Super League fixtures at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium - for the rest of this season, and McNamara will stay with the Bulls when Smith goes full-time with the Rugby Football League next year.

Jamie Peacock will be missing for Leeds this weekend with the ankle injury he sustained in last Friday's win against Catalans Dragons, although it is not as serious as first feared, removing doubts about his fitness for Britain's Test against France at Headingley on June 22. Adrian Morley has been cleared to play for Warrington against his home-town club Salford on Sunday. Morley was put on report for an alleged high tackle in the Wolves' defeat at Bradford but the RFL's video review panel ruledhe had no case to answer.